Tag: photography

Yisrael’s Newborn Session

Lately I’ve been wanting to share my photos from some of my photo shoots, and I think I’m going to start making blog posts where I highlight a few of my favorite shots!

Well, let’s be honest – more than a few. I’m one of the most indecisive people ever!!

My good friend Dina, whose little one I had been doing monthly milestone photos with, wanted to get her friend Rochel the gift of newborn photos. This was mama’s sixth baby {amazing woman!}. Dina, being the sweetest person ever, wanted her to have something to memorialize this fleeting moment of tiny baby-ness, so she asked me if I’d like to help out. Of course I said yes!

This was only my second newborn shoot, and I’m not a pro at handling babies, so I was really excited {and nervous!} about the challenge. I don’t have a studio or really very many props – someday I’d like to invest a little more so that things don’t feel so DIY/thrown together. Someday! Dina is great at planning, and together we were able to pull together something wonderful.

Continue reading “Yisrael’s Newborn Session”

Why you need to rent camera gear before you buy

I’m an amateur photographer right now, but more of my friends lately have been asking me to take photos for them – which I’m LOVING!

For a while I’ve felt that my camera bag is missing something, but I couldn’t figure it out. There are about a million + one options of cameras and lenses out there, and for someone who barely knows how to shoot in manual mode, the choices can be a little overwhelming. Continue reading “Why you need to rent camera gear before you buy”

24 hours in Cincinnati

Now that I work two part-time jobs, weekends are not really a “thing” for me anymore.

If I get any days off, they’re probably not going to be on the actual weekend – but somehow, I had a whole Saturday off last week, and wasn’t scheduled to work until the afternoon on Sunday!

So Ben & I jumped at the chance to explore our little corner of Ohio a bit more, and booked a B&B in the cute neighborhood of Clifton in Cincinnati. We had just about 24 hours to spend in Cincinnati, and we were going to make the absolute most out of it.

Continue reading “24 hours in Cincinnati”

busy bee

Oh hello there.

It has been a busy week!! How busy, you may ask? Well, all of these things happened in the past week:

  • I accepted a second part-time job {that I am SUPER excited about}
  • I worked a Christmas Eve closing shift at the coffee bar {people get a little, um, difficult to deal with around the holidays…}
  • Ben & I flew to DC on Christmas morning to see my family
  • We had a packed 3 day trip that included lots of food, movies, & sitting around the table and telling stories
  • We flew back to Dayton, & with delays, didn’t get back home until 1:30am
  • I worked the next day
  • We unpacked & packed up again…
  • Aaaand now we’re in Cleveland for 3 days visiting some of Ben’s family!

So yeah, just a little busy.

My mom & sister
Visiting the Arlington National Cemetery

I’m looking forward to starting my new job next week and hopefully finding a good routine to settle into. One of my favorite Christmas presents that I received was an Ink & Volt planner – I have loved planners for as long as I can remember – and I’m excited to use it in the new year. I have a gut feeling that 2017 will be a year full of change and growth and exploration. I think it’ll be a year of being busy and I just can’t wait.

Bit by the travel bug

Throwback Thursday turns into me looking through all of my old photos on Facebook, and reminiscing on all of the incredible travel opportunities I’ve had – which just makes me want to pack up a suitcase and hop across the pond. I’ve been bit by the travel bug & I don’t want to find a cure!

dsc_0941
The Emerald Isle

Tip-toeing out of my comfort zone

I’ve been a little bit MIA from my blog lately, partly because I’ve been under the weather and feeling very bleh, and partly because I’ve just had a lot going on at the moment that’s been taking up my mental energy. I’ve been more in the mindset to make endless mental to-do lists than I have been to come up with blog posts that I’m comfortable sharing.

But on that note about comfort…

With tiny baby steps, I’ve been trying to to tip-toe out of my comfort zone, ever so slightly.

How, you may ask?

Processed with VSCO with g3 presetI’m doing this by being active on the board of my local Air Force spouses group, which included helping to put on a holiday ball for ~250 people. Oh, and at that ball, I ended up wearing a dress that highlighted my very un-toned arms & shoulders, which I was sure people would judge me on – guess what, things got so busy that I ended up not caring about it and just enjoying myself. Wild, right?

I’m doing this by applying to jobs that I might not be 100% qualified for, but that could help put me in the right direction for a career that I would really like to explore. And I got an interview!

I’m doing this by posting pictures of myself, not just lattes, on my Instagram.

I’m doing this by doing a Christmas photoshoot for my friends & their families, which is something I’ve never done before. I had to confront feelings of possible inadequacy & major self-doubt around the photoshoot, which had been taking up a lot of mental space in the past few weeks. Taking pictures for a friend might not seem like a big deal to others, but to me, I could’ve ruined their Christmas cards with blurry, mediocre photos and wasted their time/money. The end result was even better than I had hoped for, and the photos will be cherished by these families for years to come.

 

I’m doing this by entertaining the idea of taking my photography hobby to the next level, which is scary & exhilarating & nerve-wracking & bringing back all those beautiful feelings of self-doubt… right now it’s just an idea, being spurred on by sweet friends & a supportive husband, so we’ll see where I end up with this.

I find that I’m a person with a lot of dreams that put butterflies in my stomach but that I don’t often make the leap out of my comfort zone to put these plans into action. I know that I won’t get very far staying in the confines of that zone, but I also know that forcing myself far out all at once is way too overwhelming for me. So for right now, I’m sticking with tip-toed, clinging-to-the-handrail baby steps. I’m working on letting go.

wholly-margaret-endcap

Happy fall, y’all

Fall is my favorite season, yet the leaves always seem to change color and disappear so quickly. So when it’s 20 degrees and snowy, or 95 degrees and humid, I think I’ll look back on these photos to get a taste of those cozy fall vibes! Plus, a lil cat pic for good measure.

Summer snaps – day FIFTY!

So yes, it’s not really summer anymore, but it’s still hot and the leaves are still on the trees so I’m gonna do one last summer snaps post!

giphy

KITTENS. THIS POST INCLUDES KITTENS. YOU’RE WELCOME.

kittens-8

Continue reading “Summer snaps – day FIFTY!”